Two artists express their identity in unique ways. If food represents feminist concerns for Paula Sengupta, Jaishri Abhichandani questions sexual and religious dominance by men through her fearless sculptures.
When artist Paula Sengupta travelled to Bangladesh — less than two hours away from her home in Kolkata — in search of her roots, she was unprepared for what she would bring back with her. The autobiographical narrative which follows her journey, in the form of diary-shaped installations, speaks of inheritance and heritage, understood from within her personal space.
But the work, on display at Gallery Espace in New Delhi, forms just one part of the show Moving beyond the frame: A space for alternative readings, where “feminity” finds five different interpretations from five women artists from across the world.
Living in a 100-year-old house in the heart of Kolkata, Sengupta often wondered about her heritage. Exploring Bangladesh was an unsettling experience though, also overwhelming in parts. “I realised what it is to have something ‘in your blood’... stories that I had heard from my grandfather suddenly came alive and I attempted to examine shared histories of the two countries, as also the points of difference,” she explains.
Sengupta works with a variety of mediums. “This project is about how the partition of Bengal affected my life, viewed in a post-Colonial context. I’m basically a printmaker, and I have moved now to text and images that are placed side-by-side.
I also do books and installation art,” says Sengupta. In her work, she uses objects such as cloth, lace, crochet, paper and wood. In this particular project, she gently plays on the English and Bengali obsession with fish. The installation diary, titled Bay of Bengal and Hugli and Karnaphuli, opens to a base of block prints on which recipes of fish delicacies are written in hand with red ink.
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The second layer comprises of drawings of typical English crockery with dried fish from east Bengal resting on it. Fleshed-out recipes in bolder fonts provide the finishing layer prompting us to take a look at familiar dishes like prawn cocktail, Rohu dumplings and tuna salad besides other dishes. Of the three recipes on each page of the menu cards, the first is from west Bengal, the second has an Anglo influence while the third is from east Bengal.
If food reflects Sengupta’s art and her sense of feminity, on a darker, bolder level is feminity expressed in the works of US-based artist Jaishri Abhichandani. Displaying her strong political and societal views of liberalism and equality for both sexes, she uses forms of objects like leather whips, dildos, plastic breasts, besides Swarovski crystals.
Power dynamics find many layers across cultures and religions in her colourful sculptures of lingams in red, blue and purple, symmetrically dotted with thousands of crystals, symbolising opulence and power. “As a brand, Swarovski is conservative and does not like to be used for any political symbols.
However, my work questions the sort of money that’s getting introduced in organised religion. The seduction of religion cannot justify unjustifiable acts,” she says. Her fearless views on the sexual dominance of men and living in a destructive society with fascist and capitalist overtones are expressed through paintings, videos, and sculptures.
In her paintings, where she uses jewels, mica and even nails as embellishments, you see clever references to women in power. In one, US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, sits amidst snakes while in other works we see powerful women like Sheikh Hasina and Benazir Bhutto giving way to male dominance.
Abhichandani’s sculptures however concentrate on spiritual ecstasy and divinity than political undertones. “The whips in the sculpture represent power. My lingams have evolved over time. Even the materials have changed and I now use wood, on top of which falls the wiring and crystals,” she says.
The artist is proud of her most distinct sculpture in this collection, “Roe Vs Wade”, that’s named after the US law allowing women to have abortions. A plastic female breast lies in the centre of it with eight whips around it, all in red, representing the eight judges of the US Supreme Court.
“It represents the exertion of male power over the female body yet again,” she says. When she was thinking of bringing this collection of work to India, it was not without hesitation. “I was not very confident of the response it would get here. But my work is as American as it is Indian. I live there but I spend a lot of time here too and so, my art is a reflection of both,” says Abhichandani.
Also studying feminism in their own way, through various art forms are Sutapa Biswas, Catherina Mosley and Maxine Henryson, artists whose works have been displayed at the exhibition.
Feminism has, over centuries, had many voices. This time it has art.